Getting on With It

The date for getting on with the transplant has been set, and I am looking forward to it, but it is frightening as well. For some strange reason, the nearness of this procedure makes everything seem more real. Yes, I’ve been through several rounds of chemo, thought a lot about what is happening, cried, screamed, gotten angry, and prayed. Yet this event, this transplant, makes everything seem, I don’t know, like it is really happening to me. This is serious, I could die, not from the procedure, but from this disease, cancer. Cancer is always something that happens to someone else. Maybe this transplant is making it really sink in, I am that someone else. This is really happening to ME. Why, I don’t know. Am I happy about it? Absolutely not. Can I change it? Absolutely not. What I can do is accept where I am, what is happening, and pray that God can use this for good. All a lot easier said than done. Especially when you realize that you are the someone else.
St. Peregrine, Pray for us
Deacon John
Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola
July 31, 2008

At Long Awaited Last

I haven't reported anything for a while, mainly because there just wasn't anything to report. Well now there is. At long last the transplant has been scheduled. We are due to be in Chicago on Aug. 8 to begin the injections to promote stem cell growth. The stem cells will be harvested between Aug. 13 and 15, with the actual transplant scheduled for Aug. 22. In a slight change of plans, they asked that we remain in Chicago for the entire process, so we will be living in Chicago until about mid Sept. All we have to do now is find a place to live. All the prayers are about to pay off. I do realize that this is not the end of this journey, but the beginning. There is a long road ahead, but with your continued prayers I am sure the journey will be easier. I am slowly learning more and more to place my trust in God, and to allow God to guide this journey.
Thanks for your prayers and support.

Deacon John
July 24, 2008
St. Peregrine, Pray for Us.